Pope makes 13 appointments to Vatican Secretariat for Communications

Jesuit Father James Martin and Michael Warsaw, CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network, will join in an advisory capacity

US Jesuit Father James Martin of America magazine and Michael Warsaw, chairman of the board and CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network, were named by Pope Francis to help advise the Vatican Secretariat for Communications.

The Vatican released the names of the new appointments on April 12.

Pope Francis named six priests, six laymen and one laywoman to be the new consultors or advisers to the communications body, which is led by Mgr Dario Vigano and coordinates the Vatican’s diverse communications and media operations. The consultors are an advisory group separate from the secretariat members — a group of 16 cardinals, bishops and laypeople the pope named last year.

The new consultors include:

— Fr Martin, editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine, America. A prolific publisher, he also has a business degree and worked in corporate finance before entering the Society of Jesus. He is a frequent contributor to major media outlets in the United States and is a member of an Off-Broadway theater company in New York City.

— Warsaw joined EWTN in 1991 and held top-level management positions in television production, satellite operations and technical services. The network, which includes radio, publishing and the National Catholic Register, reaches more than 140 countries in the world.

— Ann Carter, co-founder of the Boston-based Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications, now heads AC Communication Partners, advising on business challenges and communications issues. She was CEO of Rasky Baerlein when the firm dropped its role as the Archdiocese of Boston’s outside public relations firm, when the sexual abuse crisis in the church there emerged; the firm picked up its work again after the head of the archdiocese, Cardinal Bernard Law, resigned.

— Michael Unland, executive director of the Catholic Media Council (CAMECO), which assists media and communication outlets around the world and seeks to help the church’s presence in the media as well as underline the importance of the media within the church.

— Graham Ellis, deputy director of BBC Radio and president of the Euroradio committee with the European Broadcasting Union.

— Dino Cataldo Dell’Accio, an expert in information and communications technology and security, and chief ICT auditor of the United Nations, New York headquarters.